


Unity of Chaos and Harmony

by orphan_account



Category: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:53:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25916902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Celestia and Luna are geared up to stop Discord once and for all--when a new pony comes to stop them. Quill, a unicorn of mysterious intent and magic, steps between the warring factions of Harmony and Chaos and demands they make a truce.





	Unity of Chaos and Harmony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Celestia and Luna are geared up to stop Discord once and for all--when a new pony comes to stop them. Quill, a unicorn of mysterious intent and magic, steps between the warring factions of Harmony and Chaos and demands they make a truce.

Quill bit her lip and glanced up at the hanglider above her, silently urging it to _fly faster already!_ Unfortunately, the apple-blossom scented breeze wasn't cooperating today, and Quill moved at the speed of a candy duck. Literally, given the heart-shaped formation of them flying a few miles to her east. "Must be flying south for Cystis," the unicorn muttered to herself. "Not surprised . . . hard to be in Equestria when crystal sand covers the ground."

Crystis. Another of Discord's many tricks. Quill sighed and shook his head. She was happy enough that they got four seasons--seemed even the god of chaos didn't wanna mess with astrology too much--but did he _have_ to make snow's replacement falling crystal sand?! And it was still freezing, of course, making it doubly impossible to grow anything. Sighing again, Quill noted gloomily how with all the chocolate rain recently, they may not have enough food this year.

Discord . . . _Discord_. That menace! Well, everyone thought of him that way. Quill had never--

No, she needed to think. She shook her head, and focused on flying as fast as she could to Discordia, the capital of Discordland. The name had always struck her as weirdly uncreative for a being like him, but eh. Draconequus didn't make sense, honestly. 

Looking forward, she saw the capital was floating on spun-sugar clouds today--blueberry ones this time, it seemed. Well, the giant blueberries in the clouds were proof if nothing else. Quill grinned and shook her head. Well, maybe they wouldn't starve after all. If she could just get a few of those berries back to Ponyville . . . 

Suddenly, a beam of golden light erupted from the center of the cloud mass, followed by another blast of pure darkness. Quill's heart skipped a beat--was she too late?!

Glancing up at the hang-glider, Quill set her teeth, and with a flash of her horn the glider turned into jet-black wings which sprouted on her sides. The wings were slightly too large, and didn't match her white coat, but they functioned well as proper Pegasus wings. More importantly, while they cost her much more magic to maintain, they were _fast._

Quill jetted forward, wings beating at a whirling speed, and she quickly arrived at Discordia. Passing the floating flower houses and the various citizens of the town, all trying to get away from the center of the place as fast as they could float, Quill keened her ears at the sound of battle from Discord's throne 'room.'

"You will not be allowed to remain here, Discord!" A regal voice call, and Quill recognized it as Princess Celestia.

"Your foul deeds end this day!" a second voice chimed in--ah, Princess Luna. "Sister, the Elements!"

"Oh those silly things? You ponies couldn't wield them if you tried," said a mocking voice, the voice of this world's seeming god: Discord.

"We'll see about that. Luna, no--get away Quill!"

Quill, breaking onto the scene, saw Discord facing off against princesses. The field was scattered with stone and crystal and all matters of chaotic debris--clearly, the fight had been fierce. The Princesses magic could destroy most anything, but they looked exhausted from fighting Discord head on. Meanwhile, the god seemed barely tired at all, with only a more hunched posture revealing some tiredness from the fight.

The moment she burst on the scene, the Princesses held the six stones high, three for each Alicorn. Quill knew what they did--to preserve Harmony, they could turn anything to stone. Celestia and Luna had rarely used them, but they _had_ used them on ponies before. 'War crimes cannot be tolerated' the sisters said, but Quill could never agree with it.

Nor could she abide them killing Discord.

She flew down in front of him, shocking the Princesses--and from his gasp of surprise, Discord himself. Quill dismissed her wings, her magic levitating the tome at her side. "No," she said into the shocked silence. " _No_. I won't let you kill Discord!"

"Quill, you fool, stand aside!" Celestia said, taking a step forward. "Discord must be stopped!"

"Who would want to stop me?" Discord said, coiling around Quill. He poked her cheek, and added with a sly smile, "This one clearly likes me."

Quill ignored the chaos god, instead staring down Celesia and Luna. "Look. Discord is--selfish. Extremely selfish," she added, with a glance at the draconequus, who just shrugged with a grin. "He doesn't _get_ what he's doing--but that doesn't mean we should turn him to stone!"

"He would," Celestia challenged, chin high. 

"Oh dearies," Discord chuckled, then he said darkly, "If I wanted to turn you to stone, _I would have already."_

"Discord needs an audience," Quill said, looking between the two sides. "He needs _applause_. If he was evil, truly _evil_ , he would have killed all of the Resistance ages ago," she said.

"No," Luna said, raising her chin. "He just made our world a living nightmare."

"Gasp!" Discord said, pulling up and putting a hand on his chest. "I _like_ this world!"

"He doesn't understand," Quill said evenly. "He's so wrapped up in his own ego, he can't see how his tricks and pranks make people suffer and _die_ ," she said, giving Discord a glare.

He just looked away and crossed his arms. "I never pull a _deadly_ trick. Well. Not usually," he said with a chuckle.

Celestia puffed up in rage, then walking forward shouted, "Not deadly. Not deadly?! You call turning our world into a candy-coated nightmare _not deadly?!_ "

"Well _I_ can survive it," Discord said with a huff. "You ponies are just delicate."

Quill facehoofed and looked up. "Discord. No offense, but how can _an immortal god_ possibly judge if something if survivable or not?"

"He's not a god," Celestia and Luna said automatically, though Discord just smiled.

"I'd call someone able to alter reality on a whim prrreeetttyyy godlike," Quill argued, then shook her head. "Point is, Discord, you can't exactly tell when your tricks are deadly or not," she said.

Discord rolled his eyes, then summoned a couch to flop on. "Well what do you want from me?" he said with faux concern. "To make everything _boring?_ "

"Yes," Celestia said bluntly, and Discord just burst out laughing. 

"But that's no fun!" he exclaimed. Then popping back over to lean over Celestia, he said, "Do you _really_ think I'd go with no fun?"

"What if," Quill said quietly, interrupting a tension she knew would lead to someone killed, "What if, we find a way to have chaos . . . and have it still be fun for ponies?"

"Impossible," Luna said, tossing her mane. 

"No no, I want to hear this," Discord said, turning to fully look Quill in the face. He was a little surprised at how determined she look, and in the back of his mind wondered just how fragile she was . . . .

Quill took a deep breath, and said, "Keeping everything normal is boring. Life is full of change--and magic is part of the fabric of our world. To deny it--to deny the creativity, the adaptability, the chaotic nature of magic, is to deny reality itself," she said. Looking at the others, she saw mostly skepticism, but as no one stopped her, she plowed on.

Turning to face Discord, she said, "Discord. You love a show, a prank, a bit of magic--but what use is that without an audience?" she asked, and though he ignored her, she continued. "Creatures you create cannot react like a live pony would, and just one audience member would be boring. You need ponies around to be your audience, so that you won't be so lonely," she said, and that caused Discord to pause.

"Who said I'm lonely?" he said, looking at Quill. "I'm perfectly content by myself," he said with a humph.

Quill crossed her hooves, and said, "Really. I know you have a dimension to yourself Discord--if you truly didn't care about attention, you would stay there and toy with reality to your heart's content."

"Well that would just be boring," Discord said automatically, then looked surprised as he realized his error. Grinning slightly, he said, "Well. Seems you figured me out," he said gently, and Quill allowed a small smile. "But," he added, "I won't be placed on a leash by anyone."

Quill laughed--she couldn't help it. "As if we could! No Discord," she said, wiping her eyes, "I propose a truce," she said, looking at him with fire in her eyes.

Discord crossed his arms and said, "I'm not leaving, if that's what you want."

"We could always--" Celestia started, but oddly, Luna motioned for her to pause.

Faintly, Quill could hear her mutter, "Let's see what Quill's proposing."

Taking another deep breath, Quill pulled out a scroll and quill pen from her saddlebag, and said, "Well, I want the four of us to discuss that. But my base idea is simple: Discord, Celestia, and Luna jointly rule over the land, and that while chaos will reign, it won't be so harmful to pony's lives that they're in great risk of dying."

"You expect us to work together?" Discord asked, and Celestia humphred.

"I'd never work with that _thing_ ," she said.

Luna sighed and walked over. "Quill," she muttered. "Is that really your grand plan?"

Quill stayed unmoved. "Look. I know you guys can't stand to be within fifty miles of each other. I'm not suggesting you _do_ ," she said, and the sisters looked at her strangely. "If it's agreeable, I'd propose Celestia and Luna govern basic pony affairs, boring day to day stuff Discord doesn't do anyways," she said, throwing him a look. 

He just chuckled and said, "Long as they aren't telling me what to do, they can rule away."

"Well, that's the thing," Quill edged. "It'll be less what you _can_ do, and more what you _shouldn't_ do," she said.

Discord looked away, then teleporting over to his throne, he lounged on it and said, ". . . Nnnnaaaahhhh."

"Then we are at an impasse," Celestia said, raising the elements of harmony. "Luna, shall we?"

Luna looked between them, then sighed. "Discord!" she called over to the god. "Do we really need to turn you to stone to show our earnestness?!"

"Those elements don't work," Discord said, waving a hand. "They're just a toy I made to trick you."

The sisters looked at each other, confused. "Could that be?" Celestia muttered.

Quill rolled her eyes, and said, "No, they're real Discord, they've been used before," she said, giving Celestia and Luna a death glare, but they matched it.

"Well, I should just pop them away," Discord said with wave of his paw, but the elements stubbornly stayed in place. He frowned for a moment, then teleported over to the sisters, who raised the elements in defense. Discord narrowed his eyes, and the princesses did theirs.

"Well, since, you guys won't let me live," Discord started. "I think a stay in space might change your mind," he said, starting to snap his fingers, when . . . 

A big flash of blackness filled the air, and when it faded, shining black bands circled the three combatants necks. They looked down, then at each other, then glared over at Quill, who wobbled back and forth, the remains of a glowing parchment on the gound.

"Quill! What on earth did you do?!" Celestia said, tugging at her collar. "My magic--!"

"Humph!" Discord said, trying to get his collar off in various means, all failing. "What kind of collar is this?"

"Neutrality . . . band . . . " Quill said woozily, then shaking herself slightly, she steadied and took a deep breath. "Since you three can't agree, and your war could easily tear apart all the land . . . " she said, swaying for a moment while the others looked on impatiently, "I made it so none of you could harm each other, directly or indirectly."

The three of them . . . stttaarrreeedddd. Quill stared back, then slowly, grinned. 

"They're immune to magic-- _all_ magic. Made of the hardest substance in the universe, its unbreakable by any tool known to ponykind. It's enchanted with the most air-tight neutrality spell I could form; each wearer cannot harm or injury or kill or cause pain or death to the other wearers through physical or mental or magical means--"

"Quill, _what were you THINKING?!_ " Celestia exploded, marching forward. "Why, I outta--" she said, raising a hoof to strike Quill--when a glowing black aura stopped her. "What the?"

Quill smiled, and turned so that Celestia could see the ring around the base of her tail. "See Princess? I have one too. I cannot harm any of you."

"Why, this is _comical!"_ Discord said, laughing. "Now you can't hurt me, but I can do whatever I want!" he said, snapping his finger . . . when a black glow appeared around his claws. He stared at them, tried to snap again, and again, nothing happened. Slowly, he turned his head to look at Quill. "How are _you_ more powerful than _me?_ " he asked, voice dangerous and low.

Quill shook her head, then looking at the furious god, she said, "I'm not. I'm not even an Alicorn. But what I am, is a pony who knows how to prepare. I've been working on that spell for . . . three seasons?" she said, putting a hoof to her chin. "Putting magic into it, adding all my power every day, until it was enough to bind even the three of you," she said, looking between them. 

"But what I don't understand," Luna said, stepping forward, "Is how you could even _form_ that spell. Your magic is ink, isn't it?"

Quill started to speak, but Discord cleared his throat to interrupt her. "No dear princess," he said with a chuckle, "her magic is similar to mine. It is the magic of creation itself."

Luna blinked, then looked at Celestia, who simply lowered her head. 

"He judged correctly," Quill said softly. "My magic is to create anything I can write down. There's . . . not really a limit to what I can make, besides my innate magical power."

"I'm just glad she isn't an Alicorn, she'd give me a run for her money," Discord said with crossed arms. Then looking at Celestia and Luna, he asked, "How _did_ you become Alicorns anyways?"

"When we found the truest versions of ourselves, we became Alicorns," Celestia said hotly. Looking at Quill, her face took on a strange expression, then she turned to Luna when she spoke.

"So what now?" she asked, glancing between the other three. "We can't harm each other or take these bands off. Quill, I assume you can remove them?" she asked, and Celestia bristled slightly.

However, Quill shook her head. "Even I cannot remove them. I didn't want to have blackmail material," she said, ignoring how the others humphed, "So they will stay on . . . until there are a hundred years of happiness of all creatures in this land," she said.

Silence reigned for a good few minutes as the others processed exactly what Quill said. "That . . ." Luna said.

"That's impossible!" Celestia sputtered. "They'll never come off!"

"How on _Earth_ am I supposed to function if I have to please everyone?!" Discord sputtered.

Celestia suddenly brightened. "That's right," she said with a smile. "Now, you will be forced to leave," she said, and Quill facehoofed.

"Ooooorrrrr, Discord, you and the ponies will have to come to a _compromise--"_ Quill started, but the other three interrupted her.

"NO!" they exclaimed.

"Quill, you are in _no_ position to suggest anything," Celestia huffed. "You've done enough for one day."

"You better get out of here," Discord said, teleporting over to Quill and leaning down. "Before I find a way around this little band of yours," he growled.

"Sister, I think we should leave too--who knows how long this magic will hold," Luna said, tapping her band. Celestia turned to her and nodded, and the two took off and flew away.

Quill watched them go, then looked at Discord, who had his arms crossed. "If you were so powerful," he said, "Why didn't you neutralize me completely?"

She sighed and said, "Because, believe it or not, I'd rather work with you then destroyed. But for now, I'll leave you be. Good day Discord," she said, summoning her ink wings and flying away.


End file.
